Five’s Alive! – ‘Journey’ Dev ThatGameCompany Raise $5.5m, Turn Independent

Five seems to be the number of the day, especially when concerning momentous news. In a press release sent out today, thatgamecompany, developers of award-winning games fl0w, Flower and Journey, have announced that they’re branching out a little. Previously a second-party studio working closely with Sony, they’ve now raised a fat sack of cash thanks to a venture capital firm, and are now going indie in order to seek their own blue skies. Word is that they’re courting distributors for upcoming titles already.

This is big news for sure. thatgamecompany have been pushing the boundaries of what people would even consider to be a videogame for years, and with massive, overwhelming success. Journey is a game with no dialogue, no conflict, no guns and no scores, but it’s also the fastest-selling game in PSN history. They’ve proven time and time again that games don’t have to have mega-scale budgets or killstreaks in order to be popular, and that people can and will buy games based on concepts as nebulous and avant-garde as tumbling flower petals and a desert pilgrimage.

It’s a marvellous success story so far, and it looks like they’ve got a long and profitable future ahead of them. Hats off the Jenova Chen and company, and we here at Indie Games Magazine wish them all the success in the world. Here’s hoping that some PC versions are on the cards, eh?